Alright, just finished it.
First off, this is much better than the last two joints (not a high bar, but still).
Secondly, the production on here is much much better. A nice bit of variety, it’s not just imitation trap (Kamikaze), or butt-rock-inspired trash (Revival). This feels the most “hip-hop” of his past few albums.
I think Em does best when he sticks to a topic and raps about a subject in detail. In that sense, “Darkness” is the best track on the album. It’s dark, startling, and intense. Em’s ability to tell stories with his rhymes is legitimately impressive, especially with a fact-based joint like this one. And, it’s immediately followed up “Leaving Heaven”, which is another great track. But then, it’s followed up by my personal favorite track “Yah Yah”.
However, the album starts to lose its way after that point. I think the first half of it is much stronger than the second half. I also think the album is too long. For real, you could cut “Farewell” and “Stepdad” out of the tracklist, and lose absolutely nothing of any real worth. I also think Em either needs to stop doing the sung choruses and stick to rap ones, or outsource the choruses to other people. Because, every single hook he sings on here is either (a) too loud, or (b) too obnoxious. “Never Love Again” is a super dope track that always feels like its shine gets dulled significantly by the sung chorus. Which is a shame, because we get this dope boom-bap style instrumental and these verses that feel like a more mature storytelling-focused Em showed up… only to be interrupted by a chorus that disrupts the entire feel of the song.
Overall, I think the album is a stronger project from Em. I like this a lot. But, I think what I want from him is a more focused project, one with less beats from less producers (either have Dre do all of it, or patch things up with the Bass Brothers). Because, while I like the majority of the production here, I think a more unified sound would’ve done this good.